USA Network Reportedly Unhappy With Becky Lynch & Brock Lesnar Joining 'Stacked' WWE SmackDown Roster
The Raw television partners aren't happy
Aug 27, 2021
NBCUniversal and the USA Network have reportedly made clear to WWE their unhappiness at both how 'stacked' Friday Night SmackDown's roster is following the returns of Brock Lesnar and Becky Lynch at WWE SummerSlam 2021.
Lynch and Lesnar both made shocking comebacks to WWE last weekend, with Lynch winning the SmackDown Women's Championship from Bianca Belair and Lesnar confronting Universal Champion Roman Reigns. Both have therefore been inserted onto the SmackDown side of the promotion, having been on Raw before their respective absences last year.
According to Andrew Zarian of the Mat Men Podcast, both NBCU and USA Network officials are less than thrilled that SmackDown got both Lynch and Lesnar - in what is a major ratings boost for FOX Sports - but Monday Night Raw has not got any benefit from their returns.
It has been noted that John Cena, while feuding with top SmackDown star Reigns, would still work Raw during his brief comeback over the summer, and there is added frustration that neither The Man or The Beast was included on the post-SummerSlam Raw show this week.
Zarian said: "There’s a little bit of an issue with NBC and the USA guys and the fact that this SmackDown roster is really stacked now."
WWE officials have reportedly moved to quell any unhappiness by telling NBCUniversal and USA Network that the current rosters are only temporary, and that the promotion have plans to 'shuffle the deck' during the 2021 Draft, which is set for early October.
One superstar that could be on the move from SmackDown to Raw is reportedly Edge, after an error on WWEShop.com seemed to suggest a switch to the red brand for the Rated-R Superstar.
